A year ago, Boston College accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference. At the time, Syracuse officials called BC a ‘double agent’ and said its actions were offensive.

So, on the eve of BC’s defection to the ACC, the Orange still had the Eagles’ back-door dealings on its mind as it delivered them a crushing 43-17 defeat Saturday.

‘They deserted the Big East and they deserted Syracuse,’ kicker Collin Barber said.

‘We wanted to get BC for a whole bunch of reasons, a lot of them I don’t even want to get into,’ running back Damien Rhodes said. ‘We wanted to give them a going-away present and take away what they thought they had wrapped up in the bag. They said they were gonna win because they were the better team. They fooled me.’BC (8-3, 4-2 Big East) needed a win over Syracuse to lock up the Big East Championship and an automatic Bowl Championship Series bid. Instead, the Eagles dropped from No. 17 to No. 23 in the Associated Press poll and must share the conference championship with SU, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

Now, the Eagles can only sit and hope they get an offer from the only Big East-affiliated bowl game still available, the Continental Tire Bowl.

‘They made the decision that was best for them,’ SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni said. ‘Hopefully some day we will play again. BC-Syracuse has always been an exciting game.’

Last week, senior captain Walter Reyes geared up for what could have been his last college football game. He went through physical therapy and hoped he would be healthy enough to suit up with his teammates.

Reyes missed Saturday’s game at Boston College, though, because of a torn a muscle in his shoulder. Dressed in pads, Reyes watched from the sideline at Alumni Stadium after taking the coin toss with co-captain Matt Tarullo.

‘His arm is just messed up – he could barely put on his jersey,’ Barber said. ‘They had to cut it off him after the game, that’s how much pain he’s in.’

A preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, Reyes has struggled this season on the road and on natural grass. In his place were running back Damien Rhodes and safety Diamond Ferri. After preparing to back up Rhodes, Ferri got the call on offense when Rhodes went down with a knee injury in the first quarter.

‘We had planned on (Ferri) coming in so I could be fresh in the second half,’ Rhodes said. ‘I knew he was gonna do his thing. But he did more than do his thing today.’

At the start of the 2004 season, Barber was a Lou Groza Award candidate for the nation’s best kicker. His consistency earned him second-team All-Big East honors last year.

That’s why it was a surprise Syracuse had made only two of its last nine field goal attempts heading into SU’s game at BC.

Though Syracuse didn’t exactly need the points, Barber’s steady leg returned Saturday at Alumni Stadium. Barber was three for three, tying a career high.

The remedy to Barber’s woes? A return home to Kentucky for Thanksgiving and a one-on-one session with his father, George.

‘I owe a lot to him,’ Barber said. ‘He’s the person who taught me everything. When I need it, I can go back to him and we’ll break it down and get it going back down the middle again.’

Published on November 29, 2004 at 12:00 pm